Mission &nbsp; Nothing Beside Remains (Tarkin Initiative)

Valyra Keth |

Aymeric Prendergast

Sid Berik · Feb 10, 2026

RECK TEAM

ATRISIA
0300 hours
Insertion Squad Aurek

Sid had recently escaped Coruscant- but found quick solace and was recruited by the Tarkin group. He still was apprehensive about them, but so far, they'd been generous with their protection and their rescue, and, importantly, they'd been asking him to lead a new team.

His company of Troopers, scattered to the wind. He had no idea where they were. He'd put out a message, and hopefully, they'd come back to him. His boys needed to come home. For the time being however-

He stepped off the ramp. Atrisia was a special battlefield, and littered with the wreckage of the recent-dead ghosts. It had shattered the Alliance to break the Empire. Such was the way of things. Sid crouched down as the shuttle sped off, his new sleek-black armor blending into the shadows. He looked up at the Imperial Knight- another order of Force Using Sith types. He still didn't trust them fully, and had little interest in gaining any for them. He checked his TACPAD, scanning his eyes beyond his helmet.

"No movement."

Came his distorted voice from beyond his helmet. So far, they'd not been detected. He'd prefer them to do without force users. They tended to complicate missions, what with visions, grudges, and their inability to seemingly do things quietly. But he'd play nice, for the time being. He was back to being a soldier, his rank gone. He wasn't here to make decisions, to make choices yet. He still had a lot to prove to the Tarkin group, and they to him.

Aymeric Prendergast · Feb 10, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS
Ghost of the Core’s Past - Chapter 1

ROTTWEILER

ATRISIA

The impact site was a scar on the face of Atrisia. Where there should have been the rolling green hills and serene pagodas of the countryside, there was only a jagged trench of scorched earth and twisted, blackened durasteel.

The Fourth Brother stood at the edge of the crater, a silhouette of sharp angles against the morning mist. What the Imperial Knights see as a site of recovery and duty, and the Ashinas see as a tragedy, he sees as a graveyard of echoes.

His eyes; once the clear blue of a Coruscant sky, now a sickly, sulfurous yellow, were closed. He ignored the chirping of Atrisian birds and the distant hum of Imperial dropships. Instead, he sought the death-screams, for the stains left behind.

When the DSIII went down, it wasn't just a mechanical failure; it was a psychic tectonic shift. Thousands of souls had been snuffed out in an instant of fire and gravity. Aymeric reached out and grabbed a handful of that lingering trauma.

Fear. Absolute terror. The smell of ozone and burning oxygen.

He felt the final, desperate thoughts of a technician in the communications hub, his fingers melting onto the console as he tried to stabilize the black box's containment field.

There. Deep beneath a collapsed support strut, buried under three meters of Atrisian clay and radioactive cooling fluid. The signal was faint, but to a man who had been broken by Tarkin, the scent of agony was as clear as a flare in the night. A sharp, rhythmic pulse throbbed in Aymeric's temple, a psychosomatic reminder of the neuro-shackles

Daedalus Tarkin had used during his re-education.

As he moved toward the burial site of the black box, the Fourth Brother's hand tightened on the hilt of his Inquisitorial blade. He could still hear Tarkin's voice, cold and clinical, echoing from the two years of silence in his lab: "You are a tool. And a tool that fails to find its mark is simply a scrap."

He wouldn't be a scrap. Not again.

Valyra Keth |

Tydeus Shorn

Galen Dooku · Feb 10, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS: MISSION TO ATRISIA

//: WRECKAGE OF THE DEATH STAR III
//: ATRISIA
//: 0300 HRS

The words cut through Dooku's focus on the vista like a vibroknife. "Find it." He of course knew exactly what they were after. They all did. A black box containing sensitive data beneficial to the Initiative. Curiosity lingered in his mind, but Galen didn't need to know what it contained—the shadowy Emperor's desire for its return was enough to guide the Knights footfalls.

Beneath his boots, shattered transparisteel and gnarled metal crunched. It was difficult to eliminate the sound of their presence, but Galen suspected resistance would be light... if it even showed at all. There was no Alliance left to thwart the Initiative's asset procurement team, at least not any with access to the technology needed to detect their shuttle. The Sith were like rabid dogs, too busy picking the bones of Coruscant clean to care about Atrisia. No, this mission should be standard procedure. Still, the lightsaber hilt that hung from his belt remained within hand's reach should it need to be wielded.

Sid Berik said:
"No movement."

Galen nodded.

"Killed in the splintering, if not before," he noted, stepping over what appeared to be the charred chest plate of a stormtrooper. The man it encased was nowhere to be seen. Galen noticed another piece, half of a helmet, but a metallic groan in the distance snatched his attention. The Knight's eyes narrowed, blue orbs scanning the wreckage for any sign of trouble. It was likely just debris settling, but caution was key.

"Watch for GADF or loyalists," Galen ordered. "There's still many who would follow Solipsis, even in his absence."

TAGS:

Tydeus Shorn

Keldan Andro · Feb 10, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

KELDAN ANDRO
DEATH STAR WRECKAGE
ATRISA

Even several months after its spectacular defeat at the Battle of Atrisia, the shadow of the Galactic Empire still loomed large over the galaxy.

The fabled "Third Death Star", which had inspired so much fear and terror, had been destroyed in its debut battle, scattering large pieces of its wreckage all across the planet where it now rested. Such a crippling blow to the Empire had undoubtedly play a large role in its accelerated collapse, and with the Sith threat spreading across the Galactic Core, the remains of the Third Death Star were promptly forgotten, left to rust and decay free of any outside powers or intervention.

At least, it had been until

Keldan Andro had been summoned to the world.

Granted, his orders had come directly from

Tydeus Shorn himself, and he would have answered his summons no matter what the man had told him to do. But on a deeper level, something just felt...off to Keldan. It was almost as if the Death Star was calling to him, beckoning him to come and explore its remains, tempting him with promises of untold riches and possibilities of gaining power far beyond his wildest dreams.

It was such a foreign concept to him, so alien, so unusual, so...wrong, in many respects. Since Keldan had just recently discovered his Force Sensitivity, he was not yet used to the way that it affected him, which was one of the main reasons that he had decided to join the Imperial Knights in the first place. Keldan sincerely hoped that they might be able to teach him how to best use and control his powers, how to utilize the force to his benefit and how to best understand it, because at the moment, he was very much a novice in nearly all things force related.

Regardless, Keldan has a mission to do, and he would see to it that he accomplished that mission no matter what Atrisia and the Death Star might have in store for him. As he made planetfall, he exited his vehicle, opening up a secure communications channel with the other Imperial operatives that had been dispatched on this mission,

"No movement", came an observation from

Sid Berik .

"Killed in the splintering, if not before. Watch for GADF or loyalists, there's still many who would follow Solipsis, even in his absence", replied

Galen Dooku .

Keldan responded in turn.

"Understood, I'll be sure to proceed with caution. Be careful in there, something about this place seems...off".

His warning issued, Keldan began to venture deep into the bowels of the Death Star's remains...

TAGS:

Galen Dooku

Sid Berik

Aymeric Prendergast

Tydeus Shorn

Lareva · Feb 10, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

Lareva tasted something bitter looking upon the wreckage from the ramp of the landing shuttle. Here, a planet that had escaped its fate, whose people lived to call it home. She saw nothing remarkable about it, nothing that pre-ordained it to temporal protection. It was not particularly beautiful, as far as she Lareva was concerned. Its culture was irritating more than interesting. The stranglehold the Jedi views had over them spoke poorly of their intellectual capacity and ability to reason.

All in all, an unremarkable little place, and yet blissfully intact. The gods had a sense of humor.

Nostrils flared, and the Chiss huffed softly before descending down the ramp fully.

The place felt wrong to her, too. It seemed a wound in the Force, something so unmistakably dark, so unambiguously menacing, should not exist. It spit in the face of the very idea of balance. And yet, there, too the gods seemed to have a sense of humor. No sooner had the men who built this monstrosity that lay in mountainous pieces been beaten back from Atrisia, they themselves had been unseated from Coruscant. The more things change, Lavera thought grimly, the more they stay the same.

Stybla'rev'anya checked her blaster pack one final time, holstered the blaster, then knelt and adjusted the fastenings of her boots before standing again. She approached

Tydeus Shorn , standing behind him and to one side for a moment, looking where he looked to see what he saw. After a moment of this, she proceeded toward the wreckage. The sooner they found what they were after, the sooner they would be able to get away from this open sore in the Force.

Tydeus Shorn

Tydeus Shorn · Feb 11, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

"Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the level sands stretch far away.”

ATRISIA
0302 hours
Insertion Squad Aurek

Tydeus nodded at the words of Knight Marshal Dooku, though he made no move to unclip his lightsaber hilt from his belt or pull his blaster from its holster on his thigh.

"Trooper, establish perimeter security. I saw the fire discipline in the brief, but if you suspect a threat..."

He left the rest unspoken.

There were rules, then there was what was necessary.

Turning to Lareva, he could feel her unease in the Force. Small wonder. This place might become a Wound. But Tydeus himself was a walking Wound, bearing all the dead of Tion with him wherever he went. It left him with few friends and of those nearly none wanted to be in his presence for long. He knew why. He felt it every waking moment of his existence. The dead were a millstone around his neck. A weight he must bear. He could rest when he had killed Kaine and put their souls at ease.

But in the meantime, order needed to be restored...

"We should not let the initiate wander off," he muttered to himself, following

Keldan Andro deeper into the wreckage.

He passed by the shape of a fallen walker, noting the sigil on the side of the burned out husk that was still half visible. "Mahporeem," he shook his head and wondered what might have been if the Empire had not been seduced by Sith. Having an inquisitor with them made him uncomfortable and he cast a glance at the "Fourth Brother." Dark Sider. But that wasn't what he felt right now.

Something felt... off.

That was when he saw them, three shapes standing on top of nearby rubble, barely visible in the darkness. Armed and Rodian.

"Scavengers," Tydeus warned into the bone conducted commlink he wore on his ear and throat. "We're not alone."

Then the shooting started.

Galen Dooku Lareva Sid Berik Aymeric Prendergast

Sid Berik · Feb 11, 2026

RECK TEAM

ATRISIA
0303 hours
Insertion Squad Aurek

Sid looked among the wreckage. He found only ghosts there. He didn't want to think about the ghosts. He didn't want to think about his dead friends again.

It was Sid who shot first. He stood up, tucked his rifle into his shoulder, and fired. Red blaster bolts, hate and discontent respectively, fled from his rifle into the enemy, rapidly and without precision. The idea was to gain quick fire superiority rather than accurate return fire. The scavengers shot wide and unprepared, and the first two targets came into his view. He ran a box drill on them both with near surgical precision. He was fast, and lethal.

Sid's feet turned, digging his outward foot into a turn, and his inboard foot leapt outward. He moved fast and low, his arm pumping to not take cover but to engage the enemy. He didn't move to cover- he moved closer. Imperial Commandos and Stormtroopers were the lethal for a reason. Deathtroopers however, were on another level. They were fast and precise, aggressive and violent. It was on display here. He didn't shy away from the enemy, he pushed them. They weren't expecting that, nor would most. Criminality and scavengers didn't scare him much, if at all.

He wanted to take his anger out on someone, something. People picking at the bones and corpse of his former countrymen were to be given no mercy.

Keldan Andro · Feb 11, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

KELDAN ANDRO
DEATH STAR WRECKAGE
ATRISA

As Keldan continued to move his way through the wreckage and rubble, he couldn't help but feel in awe of all the destruction that was surrounding him.

When the Third Death Star had been destroyed, it had been complete and total annihilation of the super sized Battlestation, its remains visible for miles and miles around. Nearly ever square inch of the planet had some form of the Death Star's wreckage upon it, and Keldan could scarcely step more than a few feet forward before stepping on melted Durasteel or the remains of some of the unfortunate souls who had served aboard the station to the bitter end, choosing to die in the name of their false emperor rather than save themselves.

It was all so eerie, seeing some that had caused so much grief and devastation up close, having been reduced to nothing but a veritable mountain of scrap metal. He honestly didn't see anything worth saving, though his gut told him to keep moving forward, as the treasure that he sought was much further away from his current position.

Stepping over a smoldering mound of twisted steel and tangled bodies, Keldan happened to notice some movement up ahead of him. Carefully gripping the hilt of his Crossguard Lightsaber, Keldan moved forward to investigate, stepping slowly and deliberately with each passing step. Directly in front of him was some sort of jet black Astromech Droid that had been covered from top to bottom in rubble, beeping softly as it tried and apparently failed to free itself from its trapped position. Keldan couldn't believe his luck! Perhaps this droid held a clue to the answers that he had been seeking! He stepped forward to free the poor droid from its improvised prison.

"Well look at you, your poor thing! You're an awfully long way from home, what happened-"

The droid, upon hearing Keldan's voice, immediately sprang forward, freeing itself from the rubble it had been trapped under with ease, and using its side mounted G-41 Imperial Heavy Rotary Blaster, began firing wildly at Keldan in an attempt to kill the Imperial Knight in training! Keldan barely had enough time to activate his lightsaber as he began deflecting a torrent of blaster bolts heading at him, trying his best not to redirect the bolts back at the droid. In desperation, he cried out toward the droid:

"Wait, wait, WAIT! I'm friendly, I mean you no harm!"

The droid ignored his pleas and continued attacking, though whether it was because Keldan was a wanted criminal on Mahporeem or because the droid has sustained damage was unclear. Not content to just blast Keldan to bits, the droid then activated its NZ RPER-800 HEAVY Missile Launcher, firing a single projectile toward Keldan. In response, Keldan jerked his left arm to the side, using the Force to send the missile flying off toward a piece of jutting debris. The droid fired three more missiles at Keldan, who jumped behind a large piece of sheet metal as the droid resumed firing at him with its rotary blaster cannon. Sighing to him, Keldan did a somersault over the droid, who tried but failed to engage him as he floated overhead. At the apex of his jump, he thrusted his lightsaber downward directly into the Astromech's rotating dome head, instantly destroying it as he leapt back onto the ground.

He turned around, expecting more of a fight, but the droid had been permanently disabled, smoking and on fire from where Keldan's lightsaber had struck it. So much for getting answers. Deactivating his lightsaber, Keldan pressed onward, deeper and deeper into the wreckage field around him...

TAGS:

Lareva

Junko Ike · Feb 12, 2026

Location: Mirai Jar'Kai

The first alerts had come from the breakwater, something small passing through quickly. The collectors harvesting different energies being able to get faint traces of something new even for a moment. Then the alerts and sensors throughout the area inside of the breakwater going towards the system itself. The sentinel network was robust and designed to alert them several ways as needed. Miyoung had been working on continued advancements. The twin Janni and Afrit drones hovering behind her as their intelligence was working with hers and the network she had developed. The interface over her eyes forming hardlight glasses so she could flick her eyes to go over scans and screens.

In the time after the attack her advancements from studying largely what had been used to go through their defensive grids had been being worked on. She looked up while going over it and rose from her seat. Her eyebrows raising for a moment while she was walking with a bemused smile on her face above it all. "Predictable." The intelligence AI's they had developed were built on the framework of hyperspace tracking... except with insight more into patterns and people. To give a hundred different scenarios of what could be done or what might come to pass and it helped them plan a few things once they gave it enough information.

The quick trip towards the central chambers with the other handmaidens was easy enough and Junko sat in attendance. The Emperor and empress in the palace of Chitai overseeing a few other aspects on the final construction efforts. Pallo was considered a distance but it was defended greatly compared to Jar'kai. Miyoung looked as there was a pair of Burakkugādo standing there in their suits. Weapons visible and at the ready but her voice came out. "I am guessing you are here for the same reason?" She said it and the two gave a nod. "We felt the presence of unknown force users." The mans voice came out and she knew the danger of them was they had evolved from Akio's inquisition.

"Well I didn't know about that but it was in the security alert we had planned. The death stars debris may be highly prized by some which is why we left it on the southern continent." She said it as Junko was sitting there behind a Byo screen. "And have they?" She spoke with a look from behind the screen while she sat. "Yes, a ship touched down on Ukiyo. We only have minimal eyes on it from agreements." She said it and knew Junko had brought some of them to the defense of Jar'kai... mostly from treaties and agreements and they had been vicious, animalistic... worse then the dragons. "We knew someone would come, it was a symbol of power to many who might haave survived or stayed back."

Miyoung said it as the two Bura nodded their heads. "It was a dangerous element to keep even if it is there of all place." He spoke and Junko looked over with a small nod. This was easier when Shoma was here.. he was much better at talking with people. She was good at the grand plan aand idea. "Perhaps but an excursion into Ukiyo is costly to many. Even with most of the advancements, implants and medical equipment we have been able to develop for the rest of the world. The spores the crashing debris kicked up coat everything, bone , brain and flesh eating microbes. Jungles with predators to the point the native Taeki are less then dominant."

Junko was looking at him and gave a small look though. "We should send a drone to warn them and monitor them. The taeki won't like them being there and offworlders are an exotic delicacy for them. I would hate for them to wander into a trap and realize the limb they had to amputate is being grilled and served." She said it practically though as Miyoung was looking at her. "We can send them a makie unit to inform them of the dangers and to not remove their helmets... or breathe in... or follow any sounds. Do you believe they will heed any advice?" Junko shook her head. "No but we will have given them the chance. Like for those who surrendered were given passage back home."

The Bura pair gave a nod. "Understood princess and if they won't leave what are we to do?" His words brought her attention around. "Minimal, we can't have them spread to Commonwealth worlds any spores or infections but we are not going to attack them. Hopefully they will be more understanding when we say simply we wish to be left alone to our isolation." That at least got a snort... Shoma would be better, he had managed to at least treat with and talk to the legendary Natasi Fortan so there was that at least. Junko would just prefer to avoid having people come here even if they go to the one place that kills most to visit it. She rose though and stood as the makie came flying into the room.

"To the ones who breached the shields and landed on Ukiyo, I must first apologize as it is not what you might have expected. We worked to clear all except there because it is considered highly dangerous even to us. You are currently in the domain of the Taeki of Atrisia, if you avoid disturbing too much they won't notice you but they will be attracted to blasterfire same as many of the other predators. Parasitic spores were recorded as coating most of the debris sight in our reports. If you wish to leave do so but if you stay then this is your warning. Don't breathe in the air or drink the waters." Junko said it as she doubted it sounded good, the makie drone being given a small tap as it started to fly towards the debris site.

DT-1111 · Feb 12, 2026

WATCH ME BLEED
NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

LOCATION: ATRISIA - PLANET SURFACE | INSERTION SQUAD AUREK
TAGS:

Lareva

It was not often that the Special Task Force known as “Death Mask” was deployed in the absence of their protective charge, but today was an exception. With the recent association between the Tarkin Initiative and

Tiberius Korvan , an offer was made by the latter to aid the former on this mission; given both the sensitive nature of it, and the potential for salvaging advanced technology and intelligence. While Death Mask was effectively an elite guard unit of Death Troopers, they operated outside of the traditional chain of command within the IMPAF when they were originally formed, and the same was true today. The only authority they recognized was that of the house of Korvan; any other entity was subsidiary to their heavily ingrained and influenced psyche. But today, they were given express orders by Korvan himself to submit to the command authority of the ranking Imperial Knights on this mission, with exception being anything that compromised the integrity of the mission or of the unit.

For all intents and purposes, the Death Mask squad would be under their command, but the Knights did not hold total authority over them.

The ramp touched down on the surface of Atrisia, with the team of 8 Death Mask falling into formation at the rear of the insertion squad while the other troopers took point. DT-1111, callsign “Acklay” would stand as the squad leader of the fireteam, evidenced by the Commander bars at the collar of his armor.

Tydeus Shorn said:
"Trooper, establish perimeter security. I saw the fire discipline in the brief, but if you suspect a threat..."

While the cadre of Imperial Knights surveyed the initial wreckage, Acklay motioned wordlessly to his squad to fan out and form a perimeter once the Knight Captain gave the order. Scarcely a few moments passed until scavengers were spotted, and the accompanying troopers opened fire. The Death Mask sprung into action, loosing highly accurate particle beam fire at the scavengers while dropping into cover around the natural terrain. The fireteam of 8 would array themselves in a half-circle envelope, intent on eliminating the threat within the span of moments.

Keldan Andro · Feb 13, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

KELDAN ANDRO
DEATH STAR WRECKAGE
ATRISA

As Keldan continued to make his way through the debris field, the minutes seemed to stretch into hours for him.

In fact, Keldan felt like he wasn't making any progress at all toward his objective, no matter how far he walked or how much he searched. If anything, the area around him was starting to look completely the same to him. He could have sworn had had passed by the same wrecked IAAT/R three times now, its damaged hull missing the NZ ER-1 Electrothermal Railgun that would have normally been attached to such a vehicle. He paused for a moment to take a breath and clam down, for the remains of the Death Star were clearly messing with his head. Whether or not it was a purely psychological reaction or because of the Dark Side of the Force, Keldan could not say for sure.

Regardless, the quicker he finished his mission and found what he was looking for, the better it would be for him. Still, his was a daunting task: even after all the time he had spent searching, he couldn't have covered more than a few miles of the wreckage site. What was even the point? Keldan was so lost in thought that he nearly walked headfirst into the bunker that was directly in front of him. He could have sworn that that bunker hadn't been there a moment ago, but it was the most promising lead that he had in a while. He checked the door controls to see if they still worked, and by some miracle they opened for him, the bunker still apparently having power despite the amount of time that had passed after the battle.

Keldan went to take a step forward into the bunker...and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Something felt wrong about all this, and his gut was telling him not to go in, to turn around and leave and to never come back to this location. Yet Keldan had his orders, orders he intended to fulfill to the best of his, and this location was as could a location as any to explore. Ignoring his gut feeling, he entered the bunker, one hand lightly grasping the hilt of his crossguard lightsaber.

As he walked a few feet forward, the blast doors of the bunker suddenly slammed shut behind him, trapping him inside! Keldan spun around at the noise, cursing silently. Still, it wasn't the end of the world, for as thick as the blast doors appeared to be, Keldan could probably cut his way out with his lightsaber given enough time. Of course, he would be wasting valuable time that he could instead be using to search for his objective, and he didn't want to imagine how badly

Tydeus Shorn was going to chew him out for his blunder.

Keldan activated his lightsaber, ready to begin the long and arduous process of cutting his way free, only to spin around once more at the sound of approaching footsteps. Keldan's jaw almost dropped to the floor in amazement, for standing in front of him was what he could only describe as a perfect doppelganger of himself, every detail about it exactly the same as him. It had the same armor as he did, the same height and build, and even the same mannerisms that Keldan have. Every detail about the doppelganger was perfect...every detail save one.

For when the doppelganger reached for its lightsaber and activated it, the color of the blade wasn't the same white as Keldan's, but was rather blood red.

Keldan swallowed in fear as he took up a defensive stance. The doppelganger took another step forward, and without saying a word, lunged directly at Keldan. As he did so, Keldan tried to call for help over comms, but was unable to do so, not having a signal inside the bunker.
Perhaps most worryingly of all was the fact that the "bunker" that Keldan was in had vanished into thin air, taking Keldan and his foe with it as it did. Anyone searching for Keldan would most likely be unable to find him for quite some time...

TAGS:

Lareva

The Arkanian · Feb 13, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

A purge trooper behind

Aymeric Prendergast yawned underneath his helmet.

These pre-dawn missions really ate bantha shit.

“Ark” glanced to his right as he heard staccato weapons fire marking an engagement. Then heard some chatter over the comms.

Killing scavengers.

He snorted, typical.

Seemed everyone but the Inquisitorious forgot they were here for a mission. Thankfully, Fourth Brother had already found it it seemed. They could wrap this up and go home soon.

The Arkanian shifted his weight from foot to foot at the edge of the crater while he waited.

He hated waiting.

Lareva · Feb 13, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

Stybla'rev'anya had only made it to the foothills of the mountains of wreckage left by the Death Star when the shooting began. Before she even saw where the blasterfire was coming from, the Chiss dove behind a slovenly crescent of wreckage, providing cover from 10:00 to 6:00 on a standard clock face.

"Contact!" Lareva barked into her bone conduction comm system, surprising even herself with the harshness of her voice. She drew her blaster first, peering over the top of cover, scanning the horizon for the source of the violence. She found one of the scavengers. Luckily, they hadn't seemed to notice her -- yet. The bad news was that she didn't have an angle on them.

"Moving up," she reported into the comm channel, her voice quiet and disciplined once more. She saw another pile of wreckage and darted forward. Then another. When she dashed for the third, one of the scavengers noticed and swung his blaster toward her, peppering the ground where her feet had been four times before she disappeared behind a mound of wreckage.

Stang, she thought, as three or four more shots impacted on the wreckage pile she had crouched behind. She raised her head quickly and fired off three shots toward the scavenger attacking her. The first shot went wide, but the other two impacted nearby, narrowly missing the scavenger. He lost his footing on top of his perch and slid halfway down the pile. Lareva used the opportunity to flash forward.

Soon, if her luck held, she would be in melee range.

The Arkanian |

Junko Ike

Aymeric Prendergast · Feb 14, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS
Ghost of the Core’s Past - Chapter 1

ROTTWEILER

ATRISIA

The Arkanian said:
A purge trooper behind Aymeric Prendergast yawned underneath his helmet.

"Ignore the vermin, Sergeant," Aymeric's voice was a dry rasp. “Let the heroes deal with it.”

The Fourth Brother led the way stepping off the ledge. He descended with a predatory grace, his boots sinking into the thick, radioactive Atrisian clay. The Force pooled around him, a cold shroud that dampened the sound of his movement and masked his signature from any scavenger unlucky enough to be looking in his direction.

He moved toward a massive, buckled section of the station's outer hull that had pierced the earth like a fallen spear. The air here was thick with the scent of ozone and the metallic tang of cooling fluid.

It is a trail of breadcrumbs made of suffering. He could still see the technician's ghost; not a literal spirit, but the psychic imprint of his final, frantic scramble toward the containment housing.

He reached out with the Force, sensing the structural integrity of the debris. With a subtle twist of his fingers, he caused a precariously balanced girder to groan and settle, opening a narrow gap beneath a collapsed support strut. He slipped through the opening, indifferent to the radioactive sludge that coated his black robes.

Deep beneath the twisted ribs of the communications hub, the earth was scorched glass. Aymeric stopped, his gaze fixed on a mound of compacted clay and shrapnel. The death-scream was loudest here, a high-pitched frequency that vibrated in the scars at the base of his skull.

He extended both hands, his fingers curling like claws. The earth began to tremble, groaning as the Force wrenched it upward, pulling the heavy, irradiated soil and the blackened remains of the flooring away from the prize.

Don't fail, the voice of

Daedalus Tarkin whispered in the back of his mind. A tool that fails is a scrap.

Aymeric's jaw tightened. The ground gave way, revealing a scorched, rectangular housing marked with the Imperial crest.

"The prize, Sergeant," he whispered, a thin smile touching his pale lips.

Junko Ike |

Lareva |

The Arkanian

Diocletian Mecetti · Feb 14, 2026

NOTHING BESIDES REMAINS

++ Atrisia ++
++ 0312 hours ++

The clay had not been the only thing disturbed upon this part of the wreckage.

Among the pillars of metal and broken world a shadow shifted along the fractured spine of the hull, it moved in a subtle and deliberate way. It knew it was there, and it moved with the purpose of a predator tracking from a distance. Not the scavenger vermin Aymeric had dismissed.

The hard tap of boots meeting the scorched glass of clay superheated announced his arrival.

Diocletian stepped down from the jagged rib of durasteel as though descending a cathedral stair, white blade unlit but ready at his side. His cloak stirred in the radioactive wind, dark fabric ghosting against the ruin. He had been watching the group as they had split from the group, he had felt the Inquisitor’s cold precision, watched as the surgical cruelty in the way the earth had been peeled back. Ignored the calls for contact from the rest of his Knighthood.

If he was being honest with himself, he found himself Impressed. Yet also disappointed that it would be one of the Inquisition that believed they found the prize first. Predictable.

“The Inquisition prove themselves efficient as always,” Diocletian’s voice carried lightly across the fractured chamber, smooth where Aymeric’s rasp had been dry. “I was beginning to think I would be deprived of the spectacle.”

His blue eyes drifted to the exposed Imperial housing, then back to the Fourth Brother. There was no aggression in his posture, he had no reason to. His form clad in the signature blood red hues of the Knights gave him enough presence to be there.

It was a measured standoff. Intentionally tense, for there was no love lost between the two branches of the Tarkin Initiative.

“You needn’t tense,” he added mildly, with a slight level of arrogant tease. “Surely there wouldn’t be any… unfortunate feelings of competition between us.”

He offered a faint tilt of his head towards the Inquisitor and the unit around him.

“We all serve the same masters. We all share the same purpose.”

His gaze moved and lingered on the prize. Such a small insignificant thing considering the scale of the Imperial made monument around them.

“And you seemed so certain the heroes should handle it.” The corner of his mouth curved, just slightly. “I took that advice to heart.”

He stepped closer now, boots crunching softly over vitrified earth, stopping just shy of the unearthed housing.

“So by all means, Fourth Brother.” His eyes flicked briefly toward the dark mouth of the ruin above them, where the rest of the party had vanished. “I am here now, let the heroes do the work.”

He looked back at the Inquisitor, no stress or hesitation in his stare, just the confidence of his status, his rank and his abilities for the situation.

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The Arkanian |

Lareva

Tydeus Shorn · Feb 14, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

"Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the level sands stretch far away.”

ATRISIA
0315 hours
Insertion Squad Aurek

Tydeus glared at the floating droid which projected an ominous warning from one of the families which controlled the planet. Parasitic spores. Brilliant.

The droid floated off and Tydeus moved deeper after Initiate Andro. Why had the trainee run off ahead like that? Tydeus' fingers balled into a fist at his side as he followed in the path, sensing the Initiate's presence in the Force.

Then, abruptly, the Initiate's presence simply vanished.

Tydeus' walk became a sprint, covering the distance between himself and Andro's last location in a Force-accelerated blur. He skidded to a halt in the debris, looking around. No sign of the Initiate. It was as if he'd simply vanished into thin air.

Shorn ground his teeth together and activated his comm to the Knights-only channel, "Lareva, Mecetti... We have a problem. Initiate Andro has gone missing."

The Initiate's safety was paramount, but Tydeus could not but help hear the refrain. The knights fumbling the first mission. Oh how the Inquisitors would crow.

Galen Dooku Lareva Sid Berik Aymeric Prendergast Diocletian Mecetti Keldan Andro DT-1111 Junko Ike

Aymeric Prendergast · Feb 14, 2026

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS
Ghost of the Core’s Past - Chapter 1

ROTTWEILER

ATRISIA

Diocletian Mecetti said:
“So by all means, Fourth Brother.” His eyes flicked briefly toward the dark mouth of the ruin above them, where the rest of the party had vanished. “I am here now, let the heroes do the work.”

Aymeric stood over the unearthed housing, his shadow stretching long across the vitrified earth, his sulfurous gaze fixed on Diocletian with the clinical detachment of a mortician.

The Knight's smooth, arrogant tease hung in the air, but Aymeric didn't hear the words so much as the frequency behind them; the humming vibration of a man who enjoyed the sound of his own voice.

Then, the ripple happened.

Aymeric felt it in a heartbeat. A sudden, jagged fracture in the local Force; a distant spike of alarm, a sharp intake of breath, a thread elsewhere in the wreckage suddenly going taut. Through the psychic echoes he had been tracking all morning, he sensed a shift from organized search to chaotic urgency.

A thin, cold smile touched Aymeric's lips, though it didn't reach his hollowed eyes.

"Your focus is leaking, brother," the Fourth Brother's voice rasped, the sound like dry husks grinding together.

He stepped forwards toward the Knight, invading the space Diocletian had so confidently claimed. Aymeric tilted his head, the scars at the base of his skull throbbing with a phantom rhythm.

"Something has gone wrong, hasn't it?" Aymeric's whisper was predatory, lacking any trace of empathy. "While you stand here in the mud, playing at status and seeking a spectacle, your Knighthood has lost its grip. I don't need to hear your comms to know that failure has a very specific weight."

He didn't look back at the black box, but he made a sharp, two-fingered gesture toward Ark. It was a silent command: Secure it.

"Go, Knight," Aymeric continued, his yellow eyes boring into Diocletian's blue ones. "I have no interest in your competition. We both serve the same master, after all. My victory is also yours."

He leaned in closer, his presence a cold, suffocating weight.

"Don't let me keep you from your duty. It would be… unfortunate… if the heroes failed twice in one morning."

Diocletian Mecetti |

Junko Ike |

Lareva |

The Arkanian

DT-1111 · Feb 14, 2026

WATCH ME BLEED
NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS

LOCATION: ATRISIA - PLANET SURFACE | INSERTION SQUAD AUREK
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